Zenko Suzuki

Zenko Suzuki (11 January 1911-19 July 2004) was Prime Minister of Japan from 17 July 1980 to 27 November 1982, succeeding Masayoshi Ito and preceding Yasuhiro Nakasone. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

Biography
Zenko Suzuki was born in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, Japan in 1911, and he graduated from the Tokyo University of Fisheries in 1935. He joined the Liberal Party of Japan in 1948 and helped it with merging with the Japan Democratic Party to form the powerful Liberal Democratic Party of Japan in 1955. He served as Health Ministre from 1965 to 1966 and Agriculture Minister from 1976 to 1977, and he became Prime Minister after Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira suffered a heart attack. The sympathy vote generated by Ohira's death generated the largest parliamentary majority that any prime minister had been able to enjoy for years, but Suzuki's cabinet members frequently changed and parties were split by fractional politics. He left office in 1982, with Yasuhiro Nakasone succeeding him.